The Opposite Ends of the Spectrum
by The Inimitable DA
Summary: Nine and Queen. They had never taken notice of each other - at least not in *that* way - until that afternoon in the classroom.


**The Opposite End of the Spectrum**

**By DarkAngel**

_Disclaimer: _Square Enix owns all the rights to Final Fantasy Zero. I only want to play in the world they've given us.

* * *

"BANG!"

The sound reverberated through the sunlit classroom, making Queen jump. She scrambled to hold onto the chess pieces she'd been holding, the pieces rattling in her hands. Her head whipped up to see one pissed looking Nine standing in the doorway, holding the back of one fisted hand to his mouth and swearing.

"Nine?! She dropped the pieces into a box. He jumped when he saw her, bowing his head briefly before bringing it up again to fix her with a threatening – at least, she thought that's what he was going for – glare.

"What are you doing here?" he growled, shuffling to his usual seat at the back of the classroom. He sat heavily on the desk, and Queen – long having given up on trying to get him to sit in an actual chair – only crossed her arms.

"I was setting up chess boards for our strategy class." Her eyes narrowed at his scoffing snort. "What happened to your face?" There was a bruise on the side of his face, and she could see some blood pooling on his lip; he'd likely split it when –

"Did you get into a fight?"

Nine shot her a glare, but after a few moments of holding her gaze, scoffed and looked away from her. "What's it to you?"

Queen let out a small sigh. "You can't keep letting your temper get the better of you, Nine."

"They deserved it!" Nine snapped, shoulders hunched, bristling. "They were saying shit about us and Moth-"

"We're all perfectly capable of defending ourselves, thank you," Queen snapped back. "We're all members of Class Zero. You're just giving into their perceptions of us." She let out an explosive breath. After a moment, she looked up again. "You need that cured…" She made to run a Cure spell over him but he only shook her off.

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself," he sneered, wiping at the blood on his lip with his thumb.

There was no reasoning with him when he got like this. Queen only sighed. "Wait here."

As she marched out of the classroom, ignoring Nine's yells, she wondered just when in the world he would ever grow up.

She entered the girls' bathroom. Pulling a handkerchief out of her skirt pocket with one hand, she turned on the tap with the other. Making her way back to the classroom again, she let herself get lost in thought.

Nine had always been a magnet for trouble. When they were kids, he'd stolen Ace's chocobo plush and promptly gotten scolded when it landed in the mud. She and Seven had to pull him off a crying Cinque when he'd pulled on one of her curls too hard. And then there was the time he'd broken Mother's favourite chime clock.

But he also had a kind side to him, like the time he'd climbed a tree to get the kite Eight had been flying loose. Or the time he'd let Deuce have his dessert because she'd dropped hers and she loved peaches. And then there was the day he'd gotten injured protecting her from a monster they'd encountered in the woods…

By the time she returned to the classroom, her exasperation with Nine had mellowed significantly. She opened the door to find him slouched where she'd left him. She called his name.

He'd done a decent job healing himself. Queen looked him over carefully before handing him the moist handkerchief. He took it with a grumbled thanks, grimacing a little when he took it away from his mouth. A darkened red stain marked the heretofore pristine scrap of fabric.

Her hand closed over his fingers before she could think about what she was doing. Taking the kerchief from his hands, she wiped the remaining blood from his face. Nine muttered a thank you, to which she smiled. "You're welcome, Nine."

He stared at the handkerchief in his hand. It was smeared with drying blood. "I'll get you a new one later," he muttered. Queen only shook her head.

"It's all right." She raised her eyebrows. "Just try to stay out of fights off the battlefield, Nine." She turned back to the front of the room where the chess sets were waiting. The afternoon light poured through the windows, bathing the room in a warm, quiet silence. Neither of them knew that this interaction between them was the catalyst for something greater than either of them could have predicted.

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_End Notes: _So after skipping out on several Final Fantasy releases (basically the last one I played was _FF:XII_), I decided to give _FF: Zero_ a go. I just liked the premise of a magical academy and really, that was all I needed. I ended up liking the game more than I thought I would, and currently have 615 hours logged on my save file. XD;;;

I especially like Nine and Queen. They spend a lot of time together in the game, and according to the novels also came to the Outer Bureau with Arecia at about the same time. I also got curious when I read the producers had made more scenes of the two of them interacting that didn't make it into the game, and I started wondering as well what those might be of… and that lead to me writing this. XD;;

Anyway, it's been ages since I've written anything, so please do comment! I'd love the feedback!


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